


Sugarplum Warrior Princess

by Brumeier



Series: Dress Cute 'verse [2]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Costumes, Dating, Kid Fic, M/M, Parenthood, Single Parents, Thanksgiving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:41:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27661492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier
Summary: When John gets invited to Rodney's for Thanksgiving, it's not only Cara who puts on a costume.
Relationships: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard
Series: Dress Cute 'verse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2005099
Comments: 22
Kudos: 79





	Sugarplum Warrior Princess

**Author's Note:**

  * For [elderwitty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elderwitty/gifts).



> Also written for: ficlet_zone - ABBA songs (She's My Kind of Girl)

“We’d like to invite you over for Thanksgiving. You’re still new in town…Well, I don’t want to make assumptions. I’m sure you have friends, and maybe you already made plans? Probably you’re going home to be with family, which, why wouldn’t you? I only celebrate American Thanksgiving because Cara’s mom is American, but Cara and I also celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving, which is in October, and I can assure you –”

“I’ll come,” John said.

Which was how he ended up at Rodney’s house early on Thanksgiving Day.

They’d been dating less than a month, and John wasn’t keen on meeting Rodney’s extended family, but it turned out to be just him and Cara and some guy who worked with Rodney who wasn’t going home because he lived overseas and was saving his trip back for Christmas.

“Radek Zelenka,” the guy said, introducing himself. “Pleasure to meet man Rodney always is talking about.”

“Lies,” Rodney said, glaring at Radek. “And shut up.”

John grinned. The original plan had been to hole up at his place with a turkey dinner catered by the restaurant on Wilcox and watch football. But this was going to be much more entertaining, he could tell already.

Although Rodney was also having his dinner catered by the restaurant on Wilcox, as it turned out.

“I can cook!” he said defensively. “But I’m not great at these big holiday meals. Too much room for error. This is just easier. It’s still homemade, so it counts.”

Rodney had made pre-dinner snacks, though, and had the game playing on the giant projection screen in his den/movie room. 

“John! Look at me!”

Cara came running into the room wearing a diaphanous fairy dress, complete with wings, silver and blue sequins, and a tiara. Rodney’s costume budget for his daughter was extensive.

“What are you supposed to be?” John asked, squatting down to get on her level. “A fairy princess?”

“Sugarplum fairy,” Cara said, spinning in a circle and nearly hitting John in the face with her wings. “For the card.”

John looked up at Rodney, who was blushing. “What card?”

“They do cute Christmas card photo every year,” Radek supplied around a mouthful of bean dip.

“Get dressed, Daddy! Hurry!” Cara pushed Rodney down the hall.

John could hardly wait. Would Rodney be in costume, too? It was shaping up to be the best Thanksgiving he’d ever spent.

“He doesn’t get Christmas,” Radek said when both McKay’s were out of earshot. “So they make most of Thanksgiving. Tomorrow they put up tree.”

John didn’t know much about Cara’s mother. He got the sense the divorce had been contentious, though. Rodney had Cara about every other weekend, unless something else came up. Was he denied his own daughter every Christmas? Or did that alternate, too? It didn’t seem like the kind of thing he could ask.

Cara came back with a long plastic sword and a plastic Roman breastplate strapped on over her fairy dress.

Rodney…Wow.

“Don’t you dare laugh!” Rodney said, pointing one white-gloved finger in John’s direction.

He was dressed like one of the toy soldiers from the Nutcracker, complete with red jacket – with epaulets! – blue pants, and a tall black hat on his head. There were two spots of red face paint on his cheeks. He should have looked ridiculous, but the costume was clearly tailored and the way he filled it out…John wasn’t hating it.

“You look good,” John said.

Rodney narrowed his eyes, like he didn’t believe it. “Yes, well. It’s tradition.”

John helped him carry in a large, rolled backdrop from the garage – there were quite a few in there – and they set it up in the living room, hanging the heavy paper roll on a foldable metal frame. When it was unrolled, it showed a fanciful room with a Victorian-looking Christmas tree and oversized presents and a fireplace draped with greenery and decorated with candles and ornaments.

“Wow. You don’t do anything by half measures, do you?”

“No. Zelenka? Are you ready?”

“Just a moment.”

Radek had a camera set up on a tripod. Clearly it wasn’t his first time photographing Rodney and Cara, and John was itching to see what those other Christmas card photos looked like.

“What’s with the armor?” Rodney asked Cara. “I thought we were going for fairy princess.”

“Warrior princess.” Cara assumed a fighting stance, swinging the sword around and giving a weird undulating scream.

Rodney rolled his eyes. “I will never forgive your aunt for letting you watch Xena.”

“Aunt Beanie says girls have power.”

“Yes, they do. I just wish they’d use it for good instead of evil all the time,” Rodney muttered.

“You’re a great warrior princess fairy,” John said. He gave Cara a high five. She was his kind of girl – assertive, unique, and hilarious – and made dating a single dad much less intimidating because he honestly liked having her around.

Rodney and Cara assumed a variety of poses, some cute, some silly, one that made John laugh just from the disgruntled expression on Rodney’s rosy-cheeked face.

“Okay, I think we have enough. I need to wash this crap off my face.”

“Naughty jar!” Cara sing-songed, trailing after her father.

“He is terrible to work with,” Radek said, taking the camera off the tripod. “But good father.”

John had to agree. Cara seemed well-adjusted, indulged but not spoiled. It just made him like Rodney all the more.

When they sat down for dinner and went around the table saying what they were thankful for, John didn’t say aloud what he was thinking.

_I’m thankful Spider kid and her dad showed up on my doorstep on Halloween._

**Author's Note:**

>  **AN:** I had a note that I needed to write a follow-up to _Friendly Neighborhood Spider Kid_ for Elderwitty. Why? Who can say. ::grins:: But I was pondering that note, and what the next Halloween for our intrepid trio might look like. But then I thought, why restrict myself to Halloween? A girl like Cara probably has a costume for every day of the week! LOL! So this happened.
> 
> Happy Thanksgiving, Elderwitty!


End file.
